The final Japanese show this month takes place at Korakuen Hall and has a really solid looking main event as Yoshimitsu Kimura (13-2-1, 8) faces former foe Kanehiro Nakagawa (11-6, 5), in a bout for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight, and a contest that has the potential to be something of a sleeper classic. One that is easy to over-look, but should deliver something a little special. The bout not only has two guys who are often over-looked, but two guys who have very fun styles, and also have a bit of history, with this being the second bout between the men.
Before we look at where we are today, we need to discuss the fact the two men faced off way back in 2017. That bout saw Kimura take a very hard fought decision over Nakagawa, who at the time didn't look like someone we'd be talking about 5 years later. The bout saw Kimura move to 8-0 and continue his ascent through the ranks, whilst Nakagawa fell to 4-5, and seemed to be heading towards total obscurity. Since then Kimura has gone 5-2-1, and proven to be one of the most fan friendly fighters in Japan, with notable bouts against the likes of Hironori Mishiro, Shuma Nakazato and Kosuke Saka, with his win over Saka landing him his regional title. As for Nakagawa he has totally turned his career around, going 8-1 and scoring notable domestic wins over Seiichi Okada, Ryuto Araya, Ken Osato, Taiki Minamoto and Shinnosuke Hasegawa. With the short history lesson out of the way, lets talk about the two men, and who they are today, and how that could also play a major role in this bout. The 25 year old Yoshimitsu Kimura is one of the most fun to watch fighters in Japan. He debuted in 2015 and would go on to win the All Japan Rookie of the Year in 2016, fighting as a Featherweight. He ran up a 9 fight unbeaten record, including the aforementioned win of Nakagawa, before challenging Richard Pumicpic for the WBO Asia Pacific Featherweight title and coming up short, in a really competitive bout. That fight, at the age of 21, showed there was real potential with Kimura. He bounced back from that loss by by moving up in weight and scoring 3 solid wins before challemging OPBF Super Featherweight champion Hironori Mishiro, and losing a very close, incredibly competitive bout by split decision, in what was one of the best fights of 2019. That loss was followed by another set back as he suffered a draw, in another thriller, with Shuma Nakazato. In his bout following that draw Kimura scored the biggest win of his career, stopping Kosuke Saka in 3 rounds to win the OPBF Super Featherweight title. One this to note coming into this bout regarding Kimura is that earlier this year he was scheduled to face Samir Ziani. That bout was cancelled at short notice, and coming in to this bout it's going to be interesting to see if that cancelation effects Kimura or not, as he did admit he had lost motivation due to that fight falling through. In the ring a driven Kimura is a nightmare to fight. He's gritty, determined and as we saw against Mishiro and Nakazato, he simply doesn't know when he's beaten. That has made him a fan favourite and a must watch fighter in Japan. He can be hurt, he can dropped, but it's going to take something very special to stop him and stop his desire. In terms of his style he's someone who can box and move, and is a very solid boxer, however what makes him so much fun to watch is that he has real dog inside him. When things are tough he often forgets his boxing skills and goes all out, setting a high tempo, applying a lot of pressure and simply try to grind down opponents. Although his best offense is his volume he is also a solid puncher, and that was shown in his bout with Saka, when big head shots from Kimura left Saka stumbling around the ring. At 130lbs, and now in his physical prime, Kimura looks like a nasty fighter, as he develops his power, his strength and his confidence, making him even tougher to beat. He can box, he can fight, he can punch, and although he's not world class in any area he is a very, very solid all round. On paper Nakagawa is very limited, and his 11-6 (5) record includes not just 6 losses, but also 2 stoppage losses. Despite that the 27 year old is regarded as one of the top Super Featherweights in Japan and in Asia. He is highly regarded not due to a padded record, like some fighters out there, but due to his current form, and the way he has totally turned his career around. He debuted in 2014, losing in 2 rounds, and was 4-5 after 9 bouts with losses to the likes of Toru Kiyota, Kimihiro Nakagawa and, of course, Yoshimitsu Kimura. Since then however he has developed in so many ways, and taken those losses as a sign to improve, to develop and to grow as a fighter. He has gone 7-1 since that start, and really should have been 8-0 with the loss to Ren Sasaki in 2018 being a very debatable one. He now fights like a man determined to never lose again, and victories over the likes of Seiichi Okada, Ryuto Araya, Taiki Minamoto and Shinnosuke Hasegawa have certainly helped in still a real confidence in him. Sadly it's not all been plain ailing for Nakagawa, despite his great form, and he, like Kimura, has had a bout cancelled this year. For him it was a planned bout against Kosuke Saka, that had to be scrapped when Nakagawa suffered an injury. That means he has been out of the ring since October 2021. In the ring Nakagawa doesn't do anything amazingly well. He's not got lights out power, or lightning speed, or incredible movement. Much like Kimura however he's become a very, very hard man to beat, with a great sense of will and desire in his in ring work. He comes forward, is determined and sets and odd rhythm to things, which upsets fighters. He does a lot of things wrong, isn't technical, but is tough, has plenty of pop on his shots and throws from some really awkward and peculiar angles. His footwork is odd, his punches are weird and yet he still managed to use his really odd style to great success. Trying to prepare for Nakagawa and his really odd style, that looks amateurish as hell at times, must be a nightmare and few will be able to replicate it in sparring, making him even tough to fight. Sadly for Nakagawa we do feel that Kimura is genuinely a special fighter. Maybe not a future world champion, but special enough to compete at that level even if he does fall short. As for Nakagawa he's awkward, clumsy and hard to beat, but we do feel that, over 12 rounds, his style will be tiring to himself, and after 4 or 5 rounds Kimura will begin to read him better, time him more consistently, and take over the fight. We see Nakagawa having some really good success early on, but as the rounds fly by Kimura will begin to take over, and do enough to win a clear decision. Prediction - UD12 Kimura
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This coming Wednesday we get the chance to see a really compelling match up in New South Wales as under-rated Filipino slugger Joe Noynay (18-2-2, 7) looks to defend his WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title against unbeaten Australian challenger Liam Wilson (9-0, 6). For Wilson the bout is a massive step up in class and his first for a well regarded internationally recognised title, whilst the bout will be Noynay's first in Australia and his first in well over 18 months. For the winner the WBO Asia Pacific title is a major honour, but the winner will also begin a real move towards getting a world title fight, making this bout a genuinely significant one.
Of the two men it's Noynay who is the more well known and the more recognisable. Although not a major star the 25 year old southpaw is a very dangerous fighter with a solid record and has shown no fear of fighting on the road. In fact many of Noynay's best performance have been on the road, including a very competitive loss with Reiya Abe back in 2017, along with wins over Jinxiang Pan, Kosuke Saka and a career best win over Satoshi Shimizu. Not only has he impressed on the road, but he also seems to get more aggressive when fighting on foreign soil and has shown under-rated power, with his punches being much more destructive than a typical fighter with a 32% KO rate. That actually is likely due to the fact he went the distance a lot early in his career, after debuting as a teenager. During his career Noynay has proven to be a fighter who can box, though his boxing is usually quite clumsy, and puncher. He's shown good patience in bouts, but when he lands clean he can hurt guys. Sometimes he is a bit too rough around the edges to really show what he can do, as we saw in his most recent bout against Kenichi Ogawa in what was a messy affair plagued by head clashes, but he is more skilled than some would give him credit for. He's also very tough and took some big bombs from Satoshi Shimizu, and Kosuke Saka, before stopping both of those men. He will believe in his chin, his power, and experience here. Wilson, also 25, was a very solid amateur competing in a variety of major international tournaments such as the 2018 Common Wealth Games and the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships. Unlike Noynay he is a boxer first, and his amateur fundamentals do show when he's in the ring. As a professional however he's very unproven with just 9 bouts since making his debut in June 2018. To date his most notable results are a decision win over Brent Rice for the Australian national title in 2018, a KO win over Jesus Cuadro, a TKO win over Rodynie Rafor and a 10 round decision win over Francis Chua earlier this year. He's managed to go 10 rounds a few times but has never shared the ring with someone like Noynay before. In the ring Wilson is an aggressive boxer. He's technically well schooled, looks very relaxed in the ring and puts his shots together well, however we have seen him taking risks and being punished for them, as he was against Jackson Woods in 2020, when he was clearly hurt in the opening round. He has gotten away with it in the past but there's a good chance his aggressive nature, and surprisingly sloppy defense, could be an issues against a heavy handed fighter like Noynay here. He often stands in front of opponents, and relies on his own crisp punches, to get to opponents but he is certainly there to be hit. Coming in to this Wilson should be regarded as the favourite. He has the amateur pedigree, he has home advantage and he has a lot of momentum behind him, helped in part by being active over the last 18 months or so, in fact he's fought 5 times since Noynay was last in the ring. We however would not be surprised, at all, if Noynay ended up doing what Woods, among others, couldn't. Noynay is a hungry fighter, the reigning champion and a man risking a lot here, including the WBO Asia Pacific title and several world rankings. He'll be there looking to take Wilson's head off, and we suspect, sooner or later, he will land with a huge left hand and will close in for the finish, taking Wilson out. We really do think this is too soon for Wilson, and comes far, far too early in his career. Wilson will have success, and is dangerous himself, but we really do think this is perhaps 2 or 3 fights too early in his career. Prediction - TKO6 Noynay The first Saturday of December is set to be a huge one at Super Featherweight for Japanese fans who get a Japanese title fight and a WBO Asia Pacific title fight, both on the same show. For us the most interesting of those bouts is the regional title one, which will see WBO Asia Pacific champion Joe Noynay (18-2-1, 7) look to continue his run in Japan as he takes on former Japanese champion Kenichi Ogawa (24-1, 18). On paper this good, and with Noynay's recent momentum we are expecting something very exciting. The 24 year Noynay made his debut as a baby faced youngster in 2013 and had a nice winning run to begin his career, before a draw with Alie Laurel and a loss to Richard Pumicpic saw him fall from 10-0 to 10-1-1. A loss a few fights later to Reiya Abe showed how good he was, but ended up with him dropping to 12-2-1. Since then however he has gone 6-0 (4) with the biggest struggle being a tough 10 round win over Hector Garcia in 2018. That win over Garcia was a hard win, but seemed to inspire real belief in Noynay, and his power, and he has subsequently stopped Kosuke Saka and Satoshi Shimizu, both in upset wins in Osaka. In the ring Noynay is a very talented boxer, who picks the right shots at the right time. Despite his recent run of stoppages he's not a "big hitter", but he's a very, very clean hitter, and his shots have more than just a bit of spite on them. He can be dragged into a brawl at times, but tends to get back behind his boxing before taking too much punishment. His current run of form is fantastic and the way he has become a Japanese-Killer this year has been incredibly impressive, and suggests he won't care too much about Ogawa and his reputation. The 31 year old Ogawa is best known for his 2017 bout with Tevin Farmer, which he won by decision before having the result over turned due to a drug test. After serving a ban of a year he returned in February and has scored two relatively low profile wins over Filipino fighters. This bout is is however a huge step up from those wins, and on paper may actually be the toughest bout of Ogawa's career. At his core Ogawa is a boxer-puncher. He has shown plenty of basic boxing skills, though was made to miss a lot against Farmer, and has got heavy hands. It's really his boxing skills that are his biggest issue though, and he can be out boxed, as we've seen at domestic level against the likes of Kento Matsushita and Satoru Sugita. At the moment Ogawa can ill afford a loss, and whilst he hasn't been beaten since having his jaw broken way back in August 2012 this is a bout where he needs to put on a great performance to take a win. He's up against a man who can out box him, who can hurt him, and who fights from the southpaw stance. Ogawa needs to be careful, he needs to fight smart and he needs to avoid a tear up. He really needs to be disciplined, use his 1-2 and avoid the power shots from Noynay. If Ogawa believes he can take the power of Noynay he will almost certainly find himself in problems here. We suspect that Noyany's boxing skills, his control of distance, and movement will be key early on. He'll get on his toes, box, make Ogawa look silly and slow. Noynay's power may not have the effect on Ogawa that it had on Saka and Shimizu, but it will still be enough to shake Ogawa, a natural Super Featherweight. For Ogawa the key is to get through the early rounds, hope that Noynay slows down a bit, and try to land the big right hand in the later rounds. Ogawa certainly has the power to take Noynay out, but will need to see off the early storm. Sadly for Ogawa his recent performances don't make us believe he has what it takes to see out the early part of the bout, especially not against the clean left hands of Noynay. Ogawa is tough, but his technical limitations and openness to counters will be a major issue here. Prediction - TKO8 Noynay On July 12th Asian fight fans have a packed day with several notable cards, including 2 big ones in Japan. With so many notable fights taking place it's easy for some to get forgotten in the shuffle, and one possible bout that could get lost is a very interesting match up between Joe Noynay (17-2-1, 6) and Satoshi Shimizu (8-0, 8). The bout will see Noynay attempting to make his first defense WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight title whilst Shimizu will be flirting with the Super Featherweight division for his first bout at 130lbs.
Noynay won the belt last time out, when he surprisingly stopped Kosuke Saka in 2 rounds, to record his 6th straight win. That win was his first in Japan, following a 2017 loss in Tokyo to Reiya Abe, and his second win on foreign soil, coming after a decision win against Jinxiang Pan in December 2017. Other than the win over Saka last time out Noynay holds no other wins of major note, but the 23 year old has shown great skills, pushing Abe close and losing a razor thin technical decision to Richard Pumicpic. The talented Filipino is improving fight on fight and is maturing into a really good fighter. As we saw against Saka he can punch, much harder than his record suggests, and he combines that with a very good boxing brain, good movement and good rounded skills, picking the right punches at the right time. Sadly his competition hasn't really allowed him to show what he can do, but it's clear that he is a very good hopeful, and one of the many hidden gems of the Filipino boxing scene. There is still work he needs to do, but in his biggest fights to date he has shown a lot of potential and the foundation to develop into a fantastic young fighter. The unbeaten Shimizu is the OPBF Featherweight champion and is a former amateur standout, who famously won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. As a professional Shimizu hasn't really shown much of the skills he developed in the amateur ranks, but has proven himself to be a very heavy handed southpaw slugger. During his short career he has already won a regional title and recorded 4 defenses, scoring stoppages over the likes of Shingo Kawamura and Takuya Uehara, but at the age of 33 he can't waste any more time with meaningless bouts. Shimizu's move to Super Featherweight for this bout is seen as being a one off, with the fighter expected to drop back to Featherweight for a world title shot next time out. Despite that their are questions for him to answer here, like whether his power holds up at 130lbs, or whether eh can take a shot, whether he's physically imposing or whether he still has the size advantages he's enjoyed at Featherweight .At 126lbs he's a physical freak, with a huge frame and a massive wingspan. Add those physical traits to his bludgeoning power and he's an awkward yet effective fighter and now we can see whether he's as effective at the new weight. Technically Noynay is the better boxer, but he hasn't shown the power to turn many fights around, despite his blow out of Saka. If Noynay can box, use his technical ability, and his boxing brain he could well upset the Japanese fighter, and make Shimizu pay for his wild and open style. On the other hand Shimizu certainly has the power to hurt regional level guys, and if he tags Noynay clean he will look to go for the finish, and undo any early success that Noynay may have had. This is a compelling match up, and a hard on to call, though we believe that sooner of later Shimizu's "Diamond Left" will land, and that he will get to, and stop, Noynay. Prediction - TKO9 Shimizu This coming Saturday we'll see a new WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight champion being crowned as hard hitting Japanese fighter Kosuke Saka (18-4, 15) takes on talented Filipino southpaw Joe Noynay (16-2-1, 5), with the two men battling for a belt recently vacated by Masao Nakamura. For Saka it will be his first title bout at 130lbs, as he looks to claim his second professional title, whilst Noynay looks to claim the full version of the Asia Pacific title, following a reign as Youth champion. At the age of 27 Saka is the much older man, and the much bigger puncher. The fighter from the Nakazato gym has been a professional since 2012 and he has had a really intriguing career. He was the runner up in the 2012 All Japan Rookie of the Year, losing in the final to Masayuki Ito. He would bounce back, scoring wins over Satoru Sugita and Katsuya Sato, before losing twice in a row, with the second of those losses coming to Hiroshige Osawa. Since then he has gone 10-1 (10), with notable wins over Ryuto Kyoguchi, Takafumi Nakajima, Shota Hayashi and Masanori Rikiishi. During that stretch he would win the Japanese Featherweight title. The sole loss was a weird one, losing the Japanese title to Takenori Ohashi when he mistook the 10 second clacker for the bell, and was subsequently knocked out. Saka is a huge puncher, he has serious power, a nasty aggressive streak and seems to have actually become more devastating since losing the title, proving his power at Lightweight. He's crude, but offensive, heavy handed and very dangerous. There is also no real stamina questions as he has scored stoppages in the later rounds, though was stopped in 9 rounds by Osawa back in May 2014. Filipino fighter Noynay is a 23 is a talented boxer, with good movement, good skills and a much, much smarter boxing brain than Saka. Despite being a better pure boxer he does have a relative lack of power, and he isn't likely to get Saka's respect with single shots. Instead, he will have to work hard, rely on his boxing skills and if we're being totally honest they are impressive skills, with Noynay having held his own with the excellent Reiya Abe back in early 2017. In fact both of Noynay's losses have been razor close decision defeats to notable regional fighters, Abe and Richard Pumicpic. Although not well known outside of the Philippines Noynay is genuinely a brilliant prospect, and the losses on his record look worse than they are, losing close decisions to regional level fighters is nothing to be ashamed by. He's not the most exciting, and he's not got much power, but he is very talented, very smart, quick and sharp. He's defensively smart, has an educated jab and a very long straight left hand with quick body shots in his arsenal. Although a boxer by nature he can pick up the pressure and fight as an aggressive boxer, rather than relying on jack back foot work. The result of this bout depends on a few really interesting questions. Can Saka cut the distance and get his power shots off? Can Noynay maintain the distance and use his southpaw jab to make space? If Saka can get close, and if his power can affect Noynay, this could be over inside 3 or 4 rounds. If, however, Noynay boxes smart, stays on the move and stops Saka from unloading, then he can make this look easy, though he will have to work incredibly hard through out and have an incredible level of concentration. We expect Saka to come out on top, and for him to break down Noynay, though a decision win for the Filipino wouldn't be a huge surprise by any stretch. All too often boxing gives us fights we don't want, we have little interest in and we don't really understand the point of them. Every so often however we get a fight we didn't really think we wanted, until it was made and then we think, "that's a really good match up". On December 1st we get one of those "really good match ups" as Japan's Masao Nakamura (24-3, 23) faces off with Filipino Carlo Magali (23-10-3, 12) for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight. It's a bout we hadn't really thought about, but as soon as it was announced it was hard not to be excited about, given the styles of the two men. Japan's Nakamura is a 30 year old boxer-puncher, who has shown a sense of fragility through his career but also very heavy hands and explosive KO power. He debuted back in 2006 and reeled off 12 straight wins inside the distance to win the OPBF Super Featherweight title, pulling himself off the canvas to take the belt from Allan Tanada. Sadly his reign was a short one, losing the belt in his first defense against Ronald Pontillas. Another stoppage run saw him race away to 18-1 (18) before being upset by the then unheralded Masayuki Ito. The loss to Ito was followed by another upset loss to Rey Labao in late 2014. That seemed like the start of the end for Nakamura but he since battled back, and scored a career best win over Daiki Kaneko in a brilliant 2015 clash as he began to move towards a world title fight. Sadly however Nakamura would retire in 2016, citing a mental and physical decline. Thankfully however he ended his retirement earlier this year and looked rejuvenated with 2 stoppages since his ring return. Nakamura is, as mentioned, a boxer-puncher. He's a very heavy handed fighter who has good boxing skills, surprising speed and movement and a good boxing brain. Sadly however he has questionable durability, with a chin that could let him down if he's caught cleanly on it. He can be out boxed, as we saw against Ito, and he's not great when fighters get inside and work him up close. If he can control the range, and get his thundering shots off, he's hard to beat, but up close and when he's smothered he will always struggle. On paper Magali doesn't look like any thing special, however the 32 year old Filipino is a nightmare to fight, having learned from his defeats and really developing a style that is hard to look good against. He's not quick, he's not a massive puncher, and he's not the toughest fighter, but he's a short, aggressive type who looks to cut distance and wailing in shots up close, with heavy clubbing hands, and a good engine. Through his career he has been stopped 3 times, once early in his career and twice on the road against Lightweights, with those two losses coming late in the bout. During his long career he has scored wins over Mark John Yap, Mark Gil Melligen, Ryuta Miyagi, David Browne Jnr and Masatoshi Kotani. If you can keep Magali at range you can have great success against him however Magali's desire and toughness will see him looking to cut the distance, march down his man and wear them out mentally as well as physically. That is his real threat to Nakamura, as he's not going to collapse when caught, instead he will march forward and get into Nakamura's head, whilst looking to land with his thudding power. We suspect Nakamura will have the edge in speed, power and movement, and will likely control much of the bout, but Magali will always be a threat and if he lands clean he could, very easily, drop Nakamura. That'd be when things get interesting. Although Magali has a chance, we suspect that Nakamura will take the win, either by decision or a stoppage, if he can intelligent jump on Magali when he has him hurt. If he takes too many risks however Nakamura could find himself staring up at the lights, wonder what he go caught by, so he does need to box smartly and not get dragged into a war. |
Previews
Having canned the old "Full Schedule" of Asianboxing we have instead decided to concentrate more on the major bouts. This section, the "Preview" section will look at major bouts involving OPBF and national titles. Hopefully leading to a more informative style for, you the reader. Archives
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